Steve Pinker Lecture

Steve Pinker - professor at Harvard - gives an interesting talk about the way language reflects human nature. He explores metaphor, taboo words and the language of bribes and answers interesting questions such as why we fill in a form by filling it out.

University of Edinburgh

The lecture is also available via iTunes.

Useful Article: Technology tips for teachers

Here's a link to a useful article on technology apps for teachers -

Mashable

Issuu

Issuu allows you to read a wide variety of magazines, reports and documents online. You can also publish your own material. It's visually attractive and there are lots of magazines on a wide range of subjects.

Vimeo

I came across this animated video on the Vimeo site. Vimeo is a video-sharing site for people who create their own videos.

The Forest from David Scharf on Vimeo.

I think this video could be used to great effect in the classroom. The images are beautiful and it has a strong message with ample scope for discussion. You could watch with the sound off and get students to piece the story together. You can also access a version with subtitles here - The Forest

Academic Earth

This great website offers you access to full video courses from some of the world's leading universities.

There are videos on a range of subjects from the poetry of John Milton to Ancient Greek History.

Here's the link - Academic Earth

Game Classroom

Game Classroom is a collection of educational games to use with young learners.

Great site - Virtual Museum of Iraq

I've had a quick play with the virtual museum of Iraq site - It's visually attractive and interactive and could be used in the classroom.

Wander round the halls, read descriptions of key exhibits and look at short video clips. Students would need quite a high level to get something from the site. You could ask students to explore a different period and then report back or you could set up your own treasure trail.

Useful Blog

The English Blog has lots of useful ideas for teachers and students - The English Blog

iTunes

Use iTunes for management development -

Chalkdust101

You might find some good ideas on the Chalkdust101 blog

Secondary Level EFL

Have a look at this videos from the University of Oregon - Shaping the way we teach English: Secondary EFL. It's the first part of the series - the rest can also be found on YouTube -

Simply Box

Simply Box is a great tool for saving images, text from the web onto a fun, easy-to-use web storage site - Simply box.

Website

Here's a list of websites that can help teachers create their own games, etc., on line.

Word Connect

What2Learn

Ideas to inspire

Classtools

Super Teacher Tools

YouTube Edu - MIT

Here's a link to the MIT course Listening, Speaking and Pronunciation.

YouTube Edu - MIT

YouTube Edu - UOregon

There are a series of videos from the Universty of Oregon now available on YouTube. The course is called Shaping the Way we Teach English.

Here's the first video -





YouTube Edu

Ben Goldstein Blog

You might find Ben Goldstein's blog useful. It includes tips and lesson plans.

iatefl Cardiff 2009

Why not follow the iatefl conference (Cardiff 2009) online? You can watch sessions and presentations live.

Here's the link - iatefl Cardiff 2009

OUP IH National Conference for Primary School Teachers of English

Presentation Slides - Games in the Primary Classroom - Louise Branford

National Conference for Primary School Teachers of English
19 March 2009 Milan

OUP IH National Conference for Primary School Teachers of English

Presentation Slides - Using DVD in the Classroom - Julie Sweeney

National Conference for Primary School Teachers of English
19 March 2009 Milan

OUP IH National Conference for Primary School Teachers of English

Presentation Slides - Songs and Chants in the Classroom - Babeth Cartwright

National Conference for Primary School teachers oF English

Milan 19 March 2009

Jeremy Harmer

Jeremy Harmer is famous as a teacher trainer and author. Why not visit his website? - Jeremy Harmer.

It includes audio and video clips and pdf files from presentations.

Here's a link to a video of Jeremy giving a talk on Motivating the Unmotivated

Teacher Mental Health

Teachers' TV has a moving documentary about mental health issues withing the teaching profession in the UK.

Teacher Mental Health

TED

The richness of this site is amazing. Here are some links to some of the presentations that might appeal to people working in Education.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Bill Gates Unplugged

Dave Eggers Once Upon a School

Larry Ferlazzo Blog

Larry Ferlazzo's blog is an impressive collection of website links for EFL teachers. There's bound to be something to interest you and your students.

Larry Ferlazzo

An ELT Notebook

Sue Swift's blog is a source of lots of useful information, lesson plans, tips, etc.

Recent posts include -

Using YouTube for Vocabulary Development

Teaching Individual Sounds

TKT

An ELT Notebook

Discourse Analysis

Here are some sites related to discourse analysis -

Discourse Analysis Online

Discourse Analysis as an approach to intercultural competence

Applying Written Discourse Analysis in a Japanese EFL class

Implementing Discourse Analysis for Intermediate and Advanced Language Learners

Critical Discourse Analysis in EFL context

What is meant by Discourse Analysis

CALL

Here's a site about CALL.

Claire Siskin

You can find basic info on using the Internet, using Word in the classroom and technology in general.

NLP

Here's a link to an article about Neuro-linguistic programming.

Infed.org

Jeremy Harmer

Here's a video of Jeremy Harmer talking about filming teachers.

What makes a good teacher?

In 1996 UNICEF asked the question 'what makes a good teacher?' Click on the link below to see what children had to say -

What makes a good teacher?

Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson's website is not only visually stunning but full of useful information about creativity and education.

Sir Ken Robinson

TED

www.ted.com is one of my favourite sites - It is a huge resource of ideas and a great showcase of creativity and excellence. There must be something here that will inspire you! Here's an example, Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson gives explains his view that schools stifle creativity.

Creative Thinking

Michael Michalko's website has lots of tips and ideas for creative thinking, brainstorming, etc. There are lots of tools and exercises that might help you solve problems or come up with great new ideas.

Creative Thinking

Teachers.tv masterclass

Even though these are not EFL lessons, there's plenty to learn from watching these great teachers in action -

Ceri Evans - DNA
John Heeley - Probability
Phil Beadle - Limbo and Night of the Scorpion

Behaviour Quick Fixes

Teachers.tv has a series of short videos offering quick tips on how to tackle common behaviour issues.

Behaviour



The issues dealt with are -

Can't Concentrate
Chaotic Start
Fighting
High Spirits
Disagreements
Disruptiveness
Transitions
Off Task
Anger

Here are links to full videos -

Teaching with Cowley - Starting Over
Primary Special Schools - Tackling Challenging Behaviour
Primary Management - Transactional Analysis
Behaving with Cowley - Out of the Classroom
Behaving with Cowley - Group Work

Electronic Village Online

As a follow up to the TESOL conference EVO is offering free training sessions and online discussion for six weeks. The sessions are open to all interested parties (you don't have to be a TESOL member).

EVO

Edutopia

There are some really useful resources on the George Lucas Educational Foundation website Edutopia.

For example, there are some videos where teachers offer tips for better classroom management.

Handshake Q&A

Quieting the Classroom

Scott Thornbury

Scott Thornbury's website - www.thornburyscott.com has some links to articles written by the man himself. Here are a few examples:

Reformulation and reconstruction

Grammar, Power and Bottled Water

The Lexical Approach

Big Words, Small Grammar